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León

León,
city (1995 pop. 125,117), W Nicaragua. It is Nicaragua's second largest city and the rail and commercial center between
Corinto
and
Managua
. It was founded in 1524 on Lake Managua by Francisco
Fernández de Córdoba
and moved west to its present site in 1610 after a severe earthquake. In colonial times, León was the Nicaragua's political hub. Center of the intellectuals and artisans, León became the stronghold of the liberal forces after independence from Spain (1821) and engaged in bitter rivalry with conservative
Granada
. Costly revolutions, in one of which León accepted aid from the U.S. filibuster William
Walker
, led to the founding of Managua (1855). The city is still the country's liberal center it was heavily pro-Sandinista during the revolution against the Somoza dictatorship. The poet Rubén
Darío
is buried in its cathedral. Ash from the Cerro Negro volcano damaged the city in 1992.